Chadron Again Ends Kimball Girls Season

It’s an old story.

For the fourth consecutive year, Chadron put an end to the Longhorns’ season, outgunning Kimball 57-29 in the subdistrict final.

The last time Ken Smith’s squad escaped was in 2009. Since then the Longhorns have been battering a black and red wall with little effect.

“You’re supposed to feel bittersweet,” Taylor Wismer said, commenting on an otherwise remarkable 14-6 senior season. “But I can’t really find the sweet in bittersweet.”

The top seeded Cardinals entered the game with a number one state ranking and 20-2 record. Kimball dropped three of five heading into the match. Fresh off their last second win over Mitchell in the first round, however, they appeared confident from the start.

pulled away in the second half. But Klinkhammer flipped in a leaner and a free throw late in the third, Vogel scored twice in the final period while Daum added a long jumper.

“We didn’t stop playing,” Klinkhammer said.

In fact, freshman Madison Biesecker put up the game’s final points, hitting two from the line.

“I think we played them closer than the score indicated,” Smith said. Putting the defeat into perspective, he added “You lose to the number one team--it’s disappointing, but we could’ve been sitting at home. These girls played well all season.”

The game saw the high school careers of Klinkhammer, Wismer, Emily Poss and Amber Kilgore come to a close.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better season and better girls to play with,” Klinkhammer said, gesturing toward her teammates.

The Longhorns won games at a 70 percent clip, averaged 47.3 points per game and scored as many as 64 in one go. All six losses came against better than .500 teams.

But the season also saw stellar play from next year’s senior class, including Vogel and Brooke Hager, as well as the emergence of future stars. Daum was a fixture in the varsity rotation from the start while Biesecker and Arica McCloud scored varsity points.

“I couldn’t have had a better freshman experience,” Daum concluded.

The Longhorns worked patiently on offense and forced Chadron into awkward shots and turnovers. More than two minutes elapsed before Peyton Hinn hit from inside the circle to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. She followed up with a three-pointer.

But the defense clamped down again. Chadron did not score again until the 2:16 mark.

Meanwhile, the sizzling accuracy that allowed Kimball to rack up 25 points in the final period two nights earlier cooled. The team misfired on their first eight attempts and turned the ball over six times as they tried to solve the Cardinals’ menacing full court press.

“They cover a lot of ground,” Smith said of the constant pressure. “It forces you to make foolish mistakes.”

Chadron feeds off of mistakes. After Kimball missed two free throws, Bailea Kerr banged a jumper off the glass. The Cardinals then forced a turnover and Kerr scored again on the breakaway. Moments later, the lanky junior drained another short jumper.

Suddenly, an anxious 5-0 game teetered on the precipice of a Cardinals’ runaway.

Wismer countered, sinking a long two-pointer that put Kimball on the board for the first time with just over 10 seconds to go in the first. She followed with a three early in the second period.

“They left me open,” she explained. “But once my shots started to fall, they collapsed on me.”

Indeed, her final long range strike came midway through the second, a shot lofted over two onrushing defenders.

Wismer’s accuracy sparked the Longhorns offense.

Shelby Vogel fought her way inside to score on a put back moments after Wismer’s trey. The junior forward then converted a long pass from Darbi Klinkhammer into an easy lay up.

Limited to just 2 points in the first quarter, Kimball exploded for 11 in the second. After the break, Klinkhammer, Vogel and Jessica Hanks put together a 5-0 run that also suggested some promise.

But the Cardinals kept scoring and never let up on defense, outrebounding Kimball 38 to 24 on the night.

“They’re just quick, one of the best team’s we’ve seen,” Klinkhammer pointed out.

Down 30-18 despite the brief run, the Longhorns began to push for a comeback. Chadron’s press, however, continued to force turnovers.

“We tried to go too fast for our own good,” Danika Daum observed. “We started to rush.”

The state’s number one team